Man may loose his sight after homophobic attack

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a pink background.

A gay man from County Donegal, Northern Ireland has been told that he may loose the sight in one eye after being beaten in a suspected homophobic attack.

The unnamed 20-year-old, was attacked by two men in as he walked along a quiet street on Sunday.

The attackers punched the man on the face and knocked him to the ground. He is now recuperating in hospital.

David McCartney from the Northern Ireland gay support group, Rainbow Project, told the BBC that the man is: “a very quiet fella and is a decent bloke – he is well-liked. The fact is that this isn’t the first time this has happened to him.”

“This is the second major homophobic incident that he has experienced in the last couple of years. It is absolutely traumatising for him – I’m not even entirely sure that the shock has set in yet, that he has in fact lost the sight in one of his eyes.”

Last year, the Northern Ireland police force said that they were investigating a suspected homophobic murder. Martin Conlon, 35, a former member of the Real IRA was murdered in what was believed to have been a anti-gay attack.